


all the things that surround me become meaningful with you around.

by sanlight



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: @ yuil nation gc this one's for y'all, M/M, dancer!yuta, he works for taeil but also not really, of getting information from people, spy!taeil, taeil and yuta have a lot of undeveloped history here, yuta has unconventional methods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 14:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17003421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanlight/pseuds/sanlight
Summary: “Is your boyfriend here yet?” Taeyong asks, teeth around the straw of his drink. He doesn’t remove it even when he starts getting funny looks from the people checking him out.“He’s my informant.” Taeil corrects. They’ve been over these many times, but somehow, no one in the organization will listen to him. They refuse to refer to Yuta as anything but Taeil-hyung’s boyfriend or Taeil-hyung’s pretty woman. The last one is just plain stupid, since Yuta isn’t a woman, but no one wants to debate the logistics of that one with him. He shuffles slightly and takes a sip of his drink. “His name is Yuta. Na Yuta. He should be here soon.”or: Taeil is in love with Yuta, but somehow, it's not that bad.





	all the things that surround me become meaningful with you around.

_Cherry Bomb_ hasn’t changed much in four years. It’s still filled to the brim with people, most of them young women and rich boys looking for a good time and the music is still loud enough to reverberate through the floor. The color scheme is still the same. Neon pink signs on the wall, photographs of the city stacked on the empty ones, names of the staff written in loopy lights. Yuta’s is at the very top, blinking from a soft pink to a bright purple, which doesn’t surprise Taeil that much. Yuta, despite his childish curiosity and idiotic behavior at times, is good at making a living out of what he does. He’s serious about his work, even if it’s not exactly the most ideal job, and Taeil is happy to hear that he’s doing well.

Taeyong slides into the seat next to Taeil. He’d gotten them both drinks, blue atrocities with no alcohol since they’re technically on the job, and he looks thoroughly disheveled even when he’s only been here for fifteen minutes. Taeil knows that Taeyong is exactly the type of person who gets attention for his looks, and he knows that Taeyong enjoys it no matter how much he tries to hide it.

“Is your boyfriend here yet?” Taeyong asks, teeth around the straw of his drink. He doesn’t remove it even when he starts getting funny looks from the people checking him out.

“He’s my _informant_.” Taeil corrects. They’ve been over these many times, but somehow, no one in the organization will listen to him. They refuse to refer to Yuta as anything but _Taeil-hyung’s boyfriend_ or _Taeil-hyung’s pretty woman_. The last one is just plain stupid, since Yuta isn’t a woman, but no one wants to debate the logistics of that one with him. He shuffles slightly and takes a sip of his drink. “His name is Yuta. Na Yuta. He should be here soon.”

There’s the familiar click of heels, and then a hand on his shoulder. Taeil knows it’s not Yuta because of the scent of candy that lingers – it’s Ten, grinning mischievously. His eyes are lined gold, his lips are red, and the clothes he’s wearing doesn’t leave much to the imagination. He’s grown into a lean, muscular dancer than the thin stick Taeil used to see whenever he’d drag Yuta here by the ear four years ago, sexy in a way that’s not very subtle. Taeil is completely unphased by this.

“Third room to the left,” Ten says, and his eyes flit towards Taeyong, who, much to Taeil’s amusement, looks like his soul left his body. Ten grins even wider. “I’ll keep your friend company ‘til you come back. Have fun, hyung.”

The last time Taeil had seen Yuta, it was nearly three months ago, in the park bench four or five feet away from HQ. Yuta was sitting on the bench, and Taeil was laying flat on the grass, at his feet. He’d been smiling as he relayed the events of his findings. Taeil wasn’t listening at all. He kept on getting distracted by the soft, orangish glow the street lamp casted on Yuta, by the way the color seemed to touch him softly and make him glow. When he smiled, the glow seemed to brighten even more. Yuta had called him out for not listening to him, smiling teasingly, and gently nudged him with his shoe until they were staring at each other. The ground was cold, the grass was itchy, Taeil had a midnight flight in less than an hour and half and he knew his equipment wasn’t packed yet, but it had been then that he realized that he’d rather be here, with Yuta, than with anyone else, anywhere else in the world.

 _You’re in love with Yuta, you dumb fuck,_ the universe had told him, and then he’d looked up and seen that Yuta was looking at him with the same expression of warmth, so the universe had also told him, _and maybe he’s in love with you too, you dumb fucking idiot._

Yuta jumps when Taeil shuts the door behind him. The very first thing Taeil registers that he looks healthy. There’s a decent amount of fat on his cheeks, a fair amount of muscle on his arms, and his collarbones don’t protrude as much as they used to. Despite the glitter on his face and neck, he seems okay. No outward sign of injury, no bruises or black eyes or cuts on his skin.

He’s wearing a blue silk shirt, paired up nicely with a silk ribbon around his throat, and for what it’s worth, Taeil will admit that he looks hot.

And then, he notices that Yuta isn’t smiling.

The face he’s making isn’t one that Taeil is a stranger to. He’s known Yuta for four years, and at the beginning of their reluctant friendship (?), he’d been the one who’d dealt with the bulk of Yuta’s problems. Taeil had saved him from club goers who tried to drug him, he’d gotten him out of the brothel he’d been sold to, he’d let him crash with him until he found a place to stay, he’d gotten him a job at Cherry Bomb, and he’d been the one who’d encouraged Yuta to go back to university. Over that time, he’d seen that expression on Yuta’s face plenty of times. The time Taeil had said that he’d get Yuta out of the brothel, the time Taeil had asked him if he’d like a job, the time Taeil had given him a box full of clothes, the time Taeil had driven him to Cherry Bomb the first night he started working there – he’d looked genuinely anxious.

He looks genuinely _scared_ of something.

“What’s wrong?” Taeil can’t help how fast it comes out. He’s always worried about Yuta.

“Do you think someone would ever want you dead?” Yuta asks. He speaks a lot faster these days, but there’s still a hint of an accent when he says some words.

Taeil blinks. “Obviously. I work at Neo. _Everyone_ wants me dead.” It’s an understatement, to say the least. He’s probably dodged more bullets than he’s shot them so far in life. Then he notices that Yuta is still wringing his hands together. “Where’s this coming from?”

“One of my clients said,” Yuta starts, and then pauses immediately like he’s not sure how he’s going to say what’s on his mind He clears his throat and shuffles. There’s moonlight drifting in from the open window and it reflects in his eyes and makes him glow. “One of my clients said that they’re out for you guys. Neo-Culture Tech, right?”

 _Clients_ is a nice way of mentioning the escort work Yuta does on the side.

“Yuta,” Taeil’s always liked the way Yuta’s name sounds when he says it, and he knows Yuta likes it too. Regardless of how frazzled he is or how panicked he is, the moment he hears his name out of Taeil’s mouth, he’ll always relax. “It’s not an issue. Lots of people try to get us, but no one’s succeeded before.”

Yuta stares. “My client owns the Taiwanese mob.”

Taeil stares right back. “And?”

“You’re not scared?” Yuta doesn’t even sound annoyed – just disbelieving at everything that’s coming out of Taeil’s mouth.

“I know Neo,” Taeil shrugs, and he knows he’s right here. He knows Neo, and he knows that there’s no way in hell they would let anyone die. There are eighteen of them and they’re still adding more people – it always intimidated others, instilled fear when they were attacking. No one wanted to attack one person if there were seventeen others behind him to fight back. “Nothing bad will happen to anyone as long as we’re there.”

There’s a pause.

“You’re going to Paris next week, right?” Yuta asks, and when Taeil meets his eyes, they’ve got that stupid, unreadable look in them. “For the drop off?”

Taeil nods.

“Alright,” Yuta exhales, and takes three steps closer until he’s standing directly in front of Taeil. He smells like peaches – Taeil doesn’t know how, but he does. It’s the reason he can’t walk by a fruit vendors without looking at peaches for too long. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a red, rusted pocket knife.

Taeil could recognize this specific knife out of thousands of others just like it. It was the knife he’d given Yuta the night they’d broken out of the brothel together. He’d slid it into Yuta’s palms and said, “Take this, use it on anyone who touches you,” and then they’d run all the way from the brothel to a safe location. Yuta was nineteen then. He’d had pink hair, pretty lips, and he always looked at Taeil like he had no idea why Taeil was still around him.

“Take this,” Yuta says, and his hands are cold when he takes one of Taeil’s hands and lays the knife flat on his palm. Their hands touch – there isn’t any static electricity or anything like that. Just a clash of Taeil’s warm hands and Yuta’s cold ones. “Use it on anyone who touches you.”

_Oh, he remembers that._

The tips of Yuta’s ears turn red when Taeil smiles at him.

“You should come back,” Yuta continues, and folds Taeil’s fingers around the knife, but doesn’t pull away even after Taeil’s holding onto it. Instead, he rests his hand there, fingers curling around Taeil’s closed fist, and he seems like he’s not sure if he should be doing this at all. “Got it, hyung?”

“Yeah,” Taeil wonders if Yuta can hear his heart hammering against his chest, or if it’s just him. “Alright. I’ll come back.”

And it’s then, with Yuta’s hand over his and the scent of peaches in the air, that Taeil realizes that maybe, being in love with Yuta wasn’t that bad after all.


End file.
